Posts Tagged ‘Cardinals’

Maybe the fans in St. Louis are the nicest people in America. Not only did they give Jeter an ovation practically every time he took a breath, but, according to Sterling and Waldman, they came over to Yankee fans dining at a local restaurant after a Yankees win and congratulated them with a “Nice game.” If only we saw that sort of behavior everywhere.

But I digress. What’s most amazing is that the Yankees are still standing and the road trip ended on a winning note. All this despite the absence of Beltran and Teixeira, despite the slump and benching last night of Solarte, despite the use of McCann at first base and despite the makeshift pitching staff. Yes, Tanaka notched his first loss in forever and the Yankees defense was sloppy at best, and the offense was forced to play “small ball” (I do miss the homers), but if it weren’t for Toronto’s miraculous run of wins the Yanks would be on or near the top of the heap.

Do I think the team can go patchwork into the rest of the season this way? Probably not. Guys need to come back healthy and holes need to be filled. But I was pretty impressed by this road trip. The boys did us proud in the Midwest. They deserve this day off.

Now that the Red Sox have spanked the Cardinals, won the World Series and demonstrated that the right mix of superstars, pickups and farm system kids can bring home a championship after a dismal season, it’s time to look at the Yankees and wonder how our team will turn things around.

Was anyone else surprised that no one in charge of scouting or the farm system was canned during the organizational meetings? Only the strength and conditioning coach? Like he was responsible for Jeter’s ankles and Teixeira’s wrist and Youkilis’ back and Granderson getting hit by a pitch? Seriously? Can you spell scapegoat?

If the Red Sox proved anything, it’s that it doesn’t have to take forever to “rebuild” around a nucleus of solid players. Do the Yankees have that nucleus? Does Cashman have the latitude from the Steinbrenners to go after free agents that make sense (i.e. aren’t old)? As the Cardinals showed us, a young pitching staff is a beautiful thing. If only Hughes/Kennedy/Chamberlain had been our Wacha. As the Red Sox showed us, a clutch power hitter like Ortiz does damage. If only we had a DH who put fear into the hearts of opposing pitchers (i.e. as opposed to A-Rod, who’s made a mockery of the sport and will continue to do so as we head deeper into all these trials and hearings).

The Yankees did pretty well this year under the circumstances, but realistically they didn’t have a chance. Not when CC wasn’t having a CC type of year and Kuroda petered out at the end, and our best hitters were Cano and…..Nunez?

Maybe we’ll go after the Japanese pitcher everybody’s talking about and maybe we’ll resign Cano and maybe we’ll get a catcher that can hit. But there are so many question marks heading into 2014. The one thing that isn’t unclear is that I miss baseball already. How long until spring training?????????

Apparently, Mike Matheny is a four-time Gold Glove catcher who’s never managed. I guess Tony Francona was too experienced? What do I know. When I heard Matheny’s name as the replacement for La Russa, I thought they had hired Pat Metheny.

This one didn’t have much drama compared to last night’s game – how could it? – but big hat tip to the Cardinals for coming back from the dead yet again.

(Hey, it’s almost Halloween. Might as well post a creepy pic.)

When the Rangers jumped out to the early lead, I figured they were determined not to let another championship slip through their fingers. But the Cardinals came right back and never let up. And that was basically that. They were improbable contenders and now they’re improbable winners, not unlike the Giants were last year. They played with a lot of heart and, while not always perfect in their execution, they scored runs when they needed to.

I’m sad that baseball is officially done, although I won’t miss Buck/McCarver saying over and over: “This could be the last time we see Albert Pujols wear a Cardinals uniform.” We had a joke in my house. I kept saying to Michael: “This could be the last time we see Albert Pujols eat sunflower seeds in a Cardinals uniform” and “This could be the last time we see Albert Pujols sit in the dugout in a Cardinals uniform.” (You get the picture.)

I did my usual half-assed job of watching tonight’s game – in the beginning. Both teams were playing sloppy baseball and I figured whoever made the fewest errors would win.

But then things got really interesting and I couldn’t look away even if I’d wanted to. Talk about an insane, amazing, unbelievable battle. It was the stuff that classic World Series games are made of.

And after watching those bullpens, how much did everybody appreciate Mo? I pray he never retires. Seriously.

The Rangers got to within seconds of their first championship – more than once – and they couldn’t make it happen. The Cardinals wouldn’t let them. Freese was the walkoff hero, but how about the former Fat Elvis?

I’m glad I wasn’t in the Texas clubhouse after that one. FOX kept showing Nolan Ryan (including the shot where he appeared to be sucking his thumb). I thought the Rangers would win it after Josh Hamilton played the Kirk Gibson role, but no. They gagged.

Okay, I’m sure I’ll get an argument about this, but why would MLB and the Cardinals/Rangers cancel a World Series game because rain was in the forecast? I just went on Weather.com and here’s what their forecast is for St. Louis as of right now (it’s 6:30 pm here in California):

Through 2am: Light rain. The rain will come to an end by 8pm. Cloudy with temperatures steady or falling to near 49F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph.

“The rain will come to an end by 8pm.” That’s what it says.

So my question is, would it have been the worst thing in the world to play under those conditions? Or play and have a delay? Isn’t weather an aspect of the quest for a championship? Don’t teams have to battle the elements as well as each other?

I get that rain is no fun for the fans who paid good money to attend the game. I get that it can cause injuries to the players if the field is slick. I get that it’s a drag on the starting pitchers if they can’t come back out after a delay and the pen is taxed. But isn’t all that part of earning a ring – that whichever team can overcome adversity deserves to win?

I thought the Cardinals had this game won, despite the setting. But once the score was tied, it was a matter of time before the Rangers did what they had to do.

As I watched Napoli, both offensively and defensively, I kept wondering if the Angels had trader’s remorse.

Photo: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Why would you get rid of this guy? And for Vernon Wells? Maybe he’s not the best catcher in the majors, although he’s been more than decent in the postseason. He’s a professional hitter and always has been. I’d take him.

Moving on to the Yankees, does anyone have any interest in Roy Oswalt? I do. Sort of. I’d rather have C.J. Wilson but even he doesn’t thrill me. Mostly, I just want the CC business settled. Could we please have news about the opt-out already?

I had all but turned off the TV in the ninth when the Rangers staged their surprising comeback. Well, it’s not surprising that they can hit. It’s surprising that the Cardinals’ pen allowed the runs and that Albert Pujols couldn’t make that play on the relay. I said out loud, “Tex would have had that.” Which only made me miss the Yankees more. Sigh.